This Blog post is a result of the wonderfully enthusiastic and inquisitive friends on our Relish Mama facebook page who last night went into a little frenzy to guess what was under this lid. Just to add to the fun……….go on………have a guess yourself or are you a quiet sneaky ‘scroller’ or one of those people who flip the quiz page upside down to get the answer first? It seems I know a little too much about this but I trust YOU (not me)…. go on……it’s actually pretty easy, I promise.
Cooking in the gentle moist heat of steam is wonderful. It helps the food retain its flavour and doesn’t dry foods out as easily as cooking in a harsher heat might.
I love my handy, dandy bamboo steamer. In less than 10 minutes flat, the fish (just imagine that bells are ringing and streamers are falling for all you winners and grinners out there right now who picked correctly) is perfectly cooked and a healthy, delicious dinner is on the table. This Chinese inspired sauce is soooo good – good enough to drink/slurp right up from your plate – just ask my loving husband whom I wish I’d have been quick enough with the camera to snap him doing so!
This is such a healthy, light & delicious fish dish. There is not a lot to it & seeking the best quality & freshest produce you can will really just make the whole meal sing. Getting friendly with your fishmonger is one of the best pieces of advise I could give you.
Before we jump right into the recipe, here’s some handy info on why Seafood should play such an important role in our diet. Firstly, it is lean (even more so than the leanest meat or chicken), it is easy to digest and is high in protein with none of the side effects of fatty meat. Seafood is an excellent source of many important vitamins and minerals. Fish contain important oils called Omega-3s. Our bodies cannot make Omega-3s and it is essential we get them through our diet. Omega-3 oils have been called “the miracle food of the 21st century.” Research shows the right kind can help prevent heart disease, maintain optimum blood pressure and cholesterol levels and give almost immediate relief from joint pain, migraines and depression. Omega 3-s can also improve brain development and memory functioning.
Nellie’s steamed white fish
4 x 100g rockling (can also use blue eye, rockling, snapper, whiting, barramundi,mahi-mahii)
2 tablespoons of water
2 tablespoons of shao xing wine (or use dry sherry or I sometimes use brown rice vinegar)
2 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp sesame oil
2-3 tbsp very thinly sliced ginger, julienne (more, if you are a ginger lover like me)
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced spring onions, julienne
Handful of coriander leaves, washed & dried
Add 2-3 inches of water to the bottom of a steamer and bring to a boil. Meanwhile, place the fish on a plate that you know will fit inside the steamer, leaving enough of a gap for the steam to come up through the bamboo (2 pieces of fish fit on my plates so I add another bamboo steamer on top for additional pieces of fish – bamboo steamers are generally sold with 2-3 tiers). Combine the water, wine, soy sauce, sesame oil and pepper in a small bowl. Spoon the sauce over fish & be sure to get every last bit. Top with 2/3 of the ginger and steam for approximately 8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish.
Check the water level occasionally during cooking to ensure steaming water does not evaporate fully. Add more boiling water if needed.
About 2 minutes before the final cooking time for our fish, I added some washed Chinese cabbage leaves to the steamer which we later served and enjoyed with our fish. As a little bonus, I just so happened to have some fresh green prawns in the fridge (I did look up and thank the heavens, yes) so I placed them in the steamer along with a small amount of the sauce and steamed them for just 3 minutes to enjoy with the dish – it just gets better and better, doesn’t it !
Remove from steamer and spoon over the warm sauce. Top fish with the remaining ginger, reserved spring onions and the coriander leaves. Serve immediately with brown rice and a side of stir fried vegetables or shredded cabbage or simply, as we did, with the steamed cabbage.
I sincerely hope you enjoy and would look forward to receiving your comments !
